This disclosure relates to mitigating infectious consequences of microorganisms present on computer touch surfaces such as touchpads and touchscreens, and more specifically, to methods and systems for user interface reorganization and selective touch input sterilization for mitigating transmission of pathogens between computer operators.
Touch input devices such as touchpads and touchscreens are an important user interface component on many computer based devices. Touchpads are popular on laptops as an alternative to a mouse, and touchscreens can be found on devices including cell phones, tablets, laptops, personal computers, kiosks, and gaming systems. Due to frequent touching, pathogens can be found on touch surfaces used to interface with computer based systems. Thus, touch input devices can become a mechanism for spreading diseases between human operators of computers.
Pathogens, including bacterium, prion, fungus and virus are known to survive in environments including touch input surfaces. Most gram-positive bacteria, such as Enterococcus spp. (including VRE), Staphylococcus aureus (including MRSA), or Streptococcus pyogenes, survive for months on dry surfaces. Many gram-negative species, such as Acinetobacter spp., Escherichia coli, Klebsiella spp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Serratia marcescens, or Shigella spp., can also survive for months. A few others, such as Bordetella pertussis, Haemophilus influenzae, Proteus vulgaris, or Vibrio cholerae, can persist for days. Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and spore-forming bacteria, including Clostridium difficile, can also survive for months on surfaces. Candida albicans as the most important nosocomial fungal pathogen can survive up to four months on surfaces. Persistence of other yeasts, such as Torulopsis glabrata, was described to be five months or shorter. Candida parapsilosis can survive for fourteen days. Most viruses from the respiratory tract, such as corona, coxsackie, influenza, SARS or rhino virus, can persist on surfaces for a few days. Viruses from the gastrointestinal tract, such as astrovirus, HAV, polio- or rota virus, persist for approximately two months. Blood-borne viruses, such as HBV or HIV, can persist for more than one week. Herpes viruses, such as CMV or HSV type one and two, have been shown to persist from only a few hours up to seven days. The most common nosocomial pathogens can well survive or persist on surfaces for months and can thereby be a continuous source of transmission if no regular preventive surface disinfection is performed. A first computer operator's finger can deposit any of a number of pathogens on a computer's touch input surface and a second computer operator's finger can receive the pathogen when using the touch input surface sometime during the life of the pathogens, thereby providing a mechanism for spreading disease.
Touch input surface sterilization using a chemical disinfectant can mitigate disease spreading. However, cleaning a touch surface with a chemical disinfectant may also damage the touch input surface functionality of the surface. Powerful chemical disinfectants can harm a touch surface, including producing a delamination of touch surface materials and a degradation of optical characteristics of the touch surface. Chemical disinfectants are also inconvenient because a supply inventory of such chemicals needs to be kept available for use on the touch input surface. Also, touch surface cleaning maintenance is manual process and may be perceived as an inconvenience or a nuisance if and when an operator remembers to clean their device. Furthermore, such cleaning may not occur frequently enough for adequate sterilization.
Radiating pathogens with ultraviolet light of a sterilization wavelength can also mitigate the spreading of a disease to a computer operator. While ultraviolet sterilization eliminates a need for disinfectant chemicals, it however has the potential to expose a computer operator to undesirable ultraviolet radiation. Furthermore, generally radiating the area of a touch surface with of ultraviolet radiation may consume excessive power. Power conservation is an important component in battery operated devices such as cell phones, tablets and personal computers.
Touchscreen based user interfaces locate icons on the touchscreen that are activated when touched by computer operators. Thus, computer operators touch certain areas of a touchscreen more than other areas due to the user interface. If a touchscreen is not sterilized, pathogens are more likely present in areas of the touchscreen that are most often touched. Consequently, such user interfaces do not mitigate transmission of pathogens to computer operators.